Has an ageing squad been exposed by Les Bleus, or was Saturday's French thrashing merely a blip for the venerated green machine?
The Irish youngsters followed up their opening-round success over the Currie Cup Pumas with a 29-24 win over Western Force last Sunday.
Olympian Zac Ward is set to start on the wing for Emerging Ireland on Wednesday against the Pumas in Bloemfontein.
Emerging Ireland have been dealt another injury blow with Connacht prop Jordan Duggan being replaced by Leinster's Alex Usanov the day before the squad embark for South Africa.
The tour head coach had last week unveiled his original selection to travel to Bloemfontein for the October matches versus the Pumas, Western Force and the Cheetahs, but injuries have led to a rejig before the group assembles in Dublin on Wednesday.
Leinster flanker James Culhane has been passed fit to team up with Emerging Ireland for their three-match tour in South Africa next month.
Easterby, who will become the interim Ireland Test team coach when Farrell is on his sabbatical in charge of the 2025 British and Irish Lions, has named a 33-strong squad for the upcoming fixtures in Bloenfointein versus the Pumas, Western Force and the Cheetahs.
‘Something old, something new’ could be the strategy for how Waikato head coach Andrew Strawbridge assembled his squad for the upcoming Mitre 10 Cup.
‘Something old, something new’ could be the strategy for how Waikato head coach Andrew Strawbridge assembled his squad for the upcoming Mitre 10 Cup.
Blues and Auckland loose forward Akira Ioane has been named in the NZ M?ori squad following his omission from the All Blacks 51-man end-of-year touring squad.